Ministers are today being warned that they could risk “unleashing a crime wave” if a planned policy to scrap short prison sentences runs into trouble.

Thousands of repeat offenders could be spared prison every year under the Government’s plans to abolish jail terms of six months or less, except for violent and sexual crimes, according to a newly-published report.

Picture: PA Wire.

It comes after Justice Secretary David Gauke last week declared there was a “very strong case” for scrapping the short jail terms.

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart also backed the move, which is being explored as part of efforts to reduce the prison population and drive down re-offending.

The figure includes thieves, burglars, drink-drivers, fraudsters, and those caught with knives or drugs.

The Civitas report, written by Peter Cuthbertson, founder of the Centre for Crime Prevention, says: "If Rory Stewart is wrong, the consequences for public safety could be enormous, with the Government unleashing a crime wave on hundreds of thousands of citizens.

"They fail to rehabilitate many offenders and lead to high rates of reoffending, which actually makes us less safe and more likely to be a victim of crime.

"That is why we are exploring more stringent and enforceable community sentences - but this work is ongoing and we've reached no conclusions at this time."

Burglary, drug possession and possession of a knife offences are triable "either way" - meaning they can be tried at either the Crown Court or a magistrates' court- and will therefore still attract custody where a longer sentence is merited, the ministry noted.

It added that an MoJ study published in 2015 found that custodial sentences of under 12 months were associated with higher levels of re-offending than sentences given to similar offenders that were served in the community.